Articles

Air Travel

Article / Air Travel

The Big Three Airlines Are Misleading Travelers So They Can Rig the System

We have two airline industries in America. There are larger carriers, led by the Big Three oligopoly of American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines. And then we have…

Article / Air Travel

U.S. Airlines Caught Charging Solo Passengers More

There are lots of ways that the travel industry punishes you for traveling solo, including higher cruise fares and higher group tour prices. But those upcharges are usually based on…

Article / Air Travel

Don't Miss Your Flight! Another Airline Just Made Its Check-in Deadline Earlier

Procrastination-prone passengers, take note: Another airline has just moved its deadline for checking in for flights. Now you have a little less time. Effective Tuesday, June 3, United…

Article / Money and Fees

AI-Driven Surge Pricing Comes to Airfares and Hotel Rates

It’s bad enough when you need an Uber just as the ball game is ending across town, and a $24 ride jumps to $68.But now that $549 airline ticket to London can leap to $849 just as…

Article / Air Travel

Air Travelers Who Stand Up Immediately After Landing Now Face Fines in This Country

We’ll concede that one of the most difficult times to remain patient during air travel is in that seemingly interminable stretch between when the plane lands and when you can get up…

Article / Air Travel

Standing Airline Seats Are Reportedly Coming in 2026. That News Doesn't Sit Well

When you have covered travel news for 25 years, as I have, you notice that certain stories flare up with the regularity of heartburn. Such it is with standing airline seats, a sizzling…

Article / Air Travel

TSA Tips for Getting Through Airport Security This Summer

Summer is upon us once again and you know what that means: way more people at the airport and all of them in front of you in the TSA line. The agency says it's "ready for the…

Article / Air Travel

Southwest Airlines Becomes the First U.S. Carrier to Ban a Common Electronic Device from Overhead Bins

If Southwest Airlines had a theme song for 2025, it would have to be Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are a-Changin'."Not only has the carrier ditched its much-beloved/much-maligned…

Article / Family & Kids

11 Ways to Save on Summer Vacations

Summer vacation = carefree fun in the sun, right? That's the ideal. But with the steep price of travel today, vacationing in the high season of summer can mean unexpected expenses and…

Article / Air Travel

Delta Air Lines Will End Basic Economy and Revise Fare Categories

Delta Air Lines is tired of using the word economy. The airline industry simply can't seem to settle on the name for its most common airfare seat class. Just like most carriers ditched…

Article / Air Travel

The U.S. Gets 4 New Nonstop Flights to Portugal's Beaches and Islands

Portugal is a delightful country to visit—especially for its beaches, Mediterranean cuisine, and indisputable appeal in warm-weather months. But the country can take some effort to…

Article / Air Travel

Make Sure This Common Electronic Device Isn't in Your Checked Bag—Now TSA Rules Forbid It

Amid all the brouhaha over the long-awaited launch of the Transportation Security Administration's REAL ID requirement at U.S. airports, you might have missed news of another important…

Article / Health, Insurance, Security

Flyers without REAL ID Asked to Arrive 3 Hours Early (Or Just Bring This Instead)

REAL ID is a case study of how constantly shifting politics in the United States makes it nearly impossible to get constructive long-term projects done. First developed in 2001 after a…

Article / Air Travel

Newark Airport is a Mess. Has it Become Less Safe to Fly in the U.S.?

Even people who live nowhere near New Jersey have been shaken by reports of chronic flight delays and cancellations at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) due to ATC. There's…

Article / Slideshows

The 10 Worst Airports in the U.S.

The United States is where air travel was born. The United States is also where air travel grew up to become a miserable ordeal. Among wealthy nations, the U.S. has some of the worst…

Article / Air Travel

What Each of Southwest Airlines' New Fare Classes Buys You

Southwest Airlines has been going through some things—operational meltdowns, backtracking on customer perks, scorching mockery on Saturday Night Live—but it wants you to believe…

Article / Air Travel

LAX Finally Gets Metro Service: How to Use It to Reach LA

Flying into LAX can feel like landing in a much poorer city than Los Angeles. For many of the 75 million passengers who use LAX each year, the experience is miserable.It's…

Article / Air Travel

Another Airline Is Finally Launching Free In-Flight Wi-Fi

After dragging their feet for years, major U.S. airlines suddenly seem to be in a rush to give passengers free Wi-Fi. This week American Airlines announced that free high-speed Wi-Fi…

Article / Air Travel

British Airways Customer Service Chatbot Doesn't Know What London and Heathrow Are, Apparently

Science fiction led us to believe robots would be flummoxed by trying to process logical paradoxes, such as the sentence "This statement is a lie" or perhaps the idea of "jumbo…

Article / Air Travel

Are We Supposed to Be Tipping Flight Attendants Now?

Given that we now live in a world where you might be asked by a payment screen how much you'd like to tip at a self-checkout kiosk, it should probably come as no surprise that the…

Article / Air Travel

Delta Tells Passengers to Arrive Earlier if They Have Bags

If you're flying Delta Air Lines in the domestic United States, make sure you bring a watch and a diversion. You'll now have to get to the airport even earlier to obtain the full…

Article / Health, Insurance, Security

Don't Have a REAL ID? You Can Use These Forms of Identification Instead

Update, December 1, 2025: As of February 2026, the United States government will charge its citizens a $45 fee to fly if they go to the airport without a REAL ID. Read more about the…

Article / Air Travel

Don't Lose Your Phone on a Flight! They Might Turn the Plane Around

Misplace your phone during a flight and the pilot might turn the plane around. That's what happened on a recent Air France flight from Paris to the Caribbean. When a passenger and crew…

Article / Health, Insurance, Security

How to Spot Fake Reviews Written By AI, According to an AI Professional

Fake reviews of hotels, restaurants, and tours have been a problem for travelers since the earliest days of the internet. But now that sketchy businesses can use artificial…

Article / Air Travel

America's Air Traffic Control Needs Fixing—Here's What to Do (and Not to Do)

About the author: William J. McGee is the Senior Fellow for Aviation & Travel at American Economic Liberties Project. An FAA-licensed aircraft dispatcher, he spent seven years in…